Rewriting football history with author James Green

[00:00:00] The book was originally going to be called Football's What Ifs, but I just, I, I, I

[00:00:04] recognize that the idea just sparked with the Southgate chapter and I felt like I

[00:00:08] wanted to call that the book title instead. But as we all know, we would have

[00:00:12] gone on and beat the Germans. Hello and welcome to When Football Began Again,

[00:00:17] the Premier League podcast that tries to remember the good times. Today's show is a deserted island

[00:00:24] matcher special with my guest author and comedian James Green. James has recently released his first

[00:00:31] book What If Southgate Got Subbed? It's a alternative history football book, some of

[00:00:38] Football's most famous moments. He steps back in time and reimagines them. It's kind of a fiction

[00:00:44] slash non-fiction crossover. It's a lot of fun, a really nice coffee table book or maybe one to

[00:00:51] read by the Paul and Holiday. I'll be discussing that in a lot more detail with James very shortly.

[00:00:57] In the meantime though, thank you if you are returning this series. We've had some amazing

[00:01:02] guests already so far, having Jules Warren, Jason Lee and Jim White and also James Green today,

[00:01:11] bit of a J theme, only just spotted that myself. This has been a really, really fun series so

[00:01:17] it's been lots of the Deserted Island Matches specials which we're going to cover today as well.

[00:01:22] In future episodes, I've got a episode in the can all about Redding's time in the Premier League,

[00:01:28] then next on our Premier League All Time Table. I have also got another book about Manchester

[00:01:34] United's trouble-winning season written by an Aston Villa fan. That is coming up a little

[00:01:40] bit later this series as well so lots more still in the pipeline and lots in the archive

[00:01:46] as well. Clive Tildesley, Henry Winter, Josh Pugh, Justin Aime, some of my incredible guests

[00:01:53] and lots of ex-footballers too. Ashley Ward, Mark Draper, Neil Cox just some of those. I've been

[00:01:59] on holiday recently and I've been hanging around the DMs of quite a few former Premier League

[00:02:05] footballers. Still not heard back from Mikael Fawcel, very nearly thought I'd got Nikos

[00:02:10] Dabazaspe. I will keep you posted as I get more interviews in the bag but let's crack on with

[00:02:18] today's show. James is quite a new comedian, he wasn't known to me before this he was introduced

[00:02:24] to me, very kindly sent me a copy of his book which I really enjoyed and read in preparation

[00:02:30] for this chat so slightly different Desert Island matches today. Basically I ask him to pick

[00:02:37] some of the memorable matches that he covers in his book and we kind of discover

[00:02:40] the alternative histories including what if Southgate got sucked at Euro 96. So this is

[00:02:48] Desert Island matches, this is James, enjoy. Joining me today to discuss his new book

[00:02:58] is an author and budding comedian as well, James Green. James how you doing mate? I'm

[00:03:04] alright thank you Carl, thank you very much for having me along. Thank you for coming on,

[00:03:07] I have been enjoying your book and I'm going to show it to the camera if anyone watching on

[00:03:12] YouTube as well. What if Southgate got sucked? We're going to cover this in quite a lot of

[00:03:17] detail today. Before we do that like to get into guests of who is their team and why is

[00:03:24] their team so tell me who do you support and why and take me back to your first match.

[00:03:29] So I'm a Manchester United fan and that is all down to my dad, he grew up in the 60s so

[00:03:35] watching the likes of Charlton Best and Law. When you actually sent me the prep work actually

[00:03:40] I was reflecting on the fact that interestingly my first ever live football game was actually

[00:03:47] Everton QPR in November 1993 for some unknown reason I do need to find out why we went there

[00:03:53] but I was actually there to witness a Bradley Allen hat trick which I do remember. So there is

[00:03:58] a little bit of luck associated with that but yeah it was quite a few years before I saw United

[00:04:03] play live because I grew up in in Middlesbrough and then spent a bit of time growing up in Preston

[00:04:08] so yeah. Right okay so Manchester United and that's interesting as well because actually

[00:04:13] Manchester United do come up quite a few times in your book but I've got to say

[00:04:17] you are not biased and will cover this quite a few times so anyone who's just thinking

[00:04:22] you've rewritten history basically to suit Manchester United that's not the case at all.

[00:04:27] So we are doing deserted island matches today and what we normally do on this episode is guests

[00:04:32] come on and tell me which matches they would take to a deserted island with them. We're going to do

[00:04:37] it slightly differently with you what we're going to do is we're going to take one or two

[00:04:42] alternative histories to various games throughout history as anyone can probably work out what

[00:04:48] if Southgate got subbed your book is an alternative history. When did you sort of

[00:04:54] get the idea for the concept in the book and kind of had it all come about.

[00:04:59] So back during the first lockdown during Covid when there was a kind of real restriction on

[00:05:04] the things that you could do that's when I really uncovered the podcast medium and

[00:05:10] for me I grew up listening to radio so we didn't have sky sports we didn't have a lot of live

[00:05:15] football in the house so radio was always the big thing and naturally I think I've

[00:05:19] gravitated towards the podcast medium so listening to a lot of the football podcasts quickly Kevin

[00:05:27] the crouch podcasts just became a real way of kind of combining exercise with

[00:05:32] with kind of good nostalgic headspace and there was one particular podcast where the discussion

[00:05:37] was about the Euro 96 semi-final between England and Germany and how England never made a

[00:05:43] substitution in that game and I just it was only kind of like a fleet in conversation but I

[00:05:50] just always stuck with me really I think for a couple of reasons one is if you look at the way

[00:05:56] an extra time has evolved in the last maybe 10 years you look at the likes of the Dutch

[00:06:01] when they brought cruel on specifically for penalties you look at managers who now throw

[00:06:06] forwards on with a view to taking spot kicks like Southgate did in the in the Euros I know

[00:06:10] it didn't work out but we've kind of seen that that change happen and I started to look at the

[00:06:15] bench and think wow you know we had Robbie Fowler on there you had Les Ferdinand you had Nick Barney

[00:06:22] you would have guessed that one of those would have been a pretty reliable penalty taker and

[00:06:27] I don't know I just sort of became inspired really to write a chapter and reimagine it

[00:06:33] from the point of view that if he had have been subbed what might have happened what would

[00:06:38] the events of winning that game have led to and just started to play around with the idea of

[00:06:43] kind of reimagining classic football games with different outcomes yeah there is a remarkable

[00:06:48] fact actually that there's no subs made I mean not even for French legs let alone penalties and

[00:06:52] it probably does show how much the games evolved it doesn't and what makes it even more gutting

[00:06:57] is if you look at the German substitutions their first two spot kicks were scored by

[00:07:01] substitutes which is kind of crazy to think that even you know 35 years ago this was sorry 25 years

[00:07:08] ago even no 30 years ago isn't it yeah you know yeah almost 30 years ago but it just kind of shows

[00:07:15] the tactics that the Germans had were almost a little bit more progressive in that way that

[00:07:21] they were bringing on players that they would rely on to take those penalties whereas England

[00:07:25] I guess historically have always had such a bad rep with spot kicks so yeah yeah yeah well we

[00:07:31] will find out what would have happened if self-getting got subbed a little bit later I mean I would just

[00:07:35] say on the concept of the book you very kindly sent me a copy I really enjoyed it it's a lot of

[00:07:40] like just lots of real daft fun I think for football fans of just exploring all of these

[00:07:45] different elements and I was saying to you just before we came on like you know sort of like

[00:07:48] there's that gear change that actually a lot of the chapters begin with the reality

[00:07:52] of kind of what was going on and then there's just that you kind of slot into here's the

[00:07:58] moment where things change I mean some of the moments we can't fit into today you'll have to buy

[00:08:04] the book if you're listening in to find out more of this I mean on Rhee and Perez's reinvention

[00:08:09] of the penalty for all time against Manchester City Marco Matarazzi being sent off in a World Cup

[00:08:14] final after an altercation with Zinedine Zidane who goes on to lift the trophy and of course

[00:08:18] who can forget Paul Alcock knowing karate on the day he was shoved by Paolo Di Canio

[00:08:23] you will have to buy the book to find out more about all that some of those we will go as I

[00:08:27] said normally be asking you at this point to pick your Manchester United Premier League game that you

[00:08:32] would take with you to a deserted island we're going to go with the Alton history what is the

[00:08:37] match that you've picked so the title of the chapter for this one is what if Cantona had a

[00:08:42] chat and it's the Crystal Palace Manchester United game infamous game from 1995 which also

[00:08:50] strangely enough involves Gareth Southgate there's lots of parallels in the book it's

[00:08:55] weird there's so many kind of similar teams or similar matches or themes that just interact

[00:09:00] across lots of the different games but yeah the infamous Cantona Kung Fu kick as we know it

[00:09:05] so had Eric Cantona decided on being abused and we have covered that on this show actually in

[00:09:11] some depth of the young gentleman in the stand and his fruity language how might Eric Cantona's

[00:09:19] life have changed had he instead gone and had a quiet word with him well that was the premise

[00:09:24] for this one it was really kind of taking you know one of the most kind of enigmatic characters

[00:09:30] in football and just putting a complete 360 on it and when you look at Cantona now how he's

[00:09:36] portrayed in you know the advertising world and the way he makes appearances now and his

[00:09:42] transition into film he's almost unrecognisable from what I would have associated with Cantona

[00:09:48] growing up so the premise of this chapter is is the same events unfold you kind of get the

[00:09:53] positioning of the game the status of where it is in the season but the plot this time hinges

[00:09:59] around Cantona keeping his cool as he leaves the field and there was I guess several elements

[00:10:05] that I wanted to draw in this chapter in terms of how I kind of see football that

[00:10:10] that aspect of the crowd and the crowd abuse in football is something that I've always grown

[00:10:15] up with it it feels like it's very different to any other sport so it was trying to think about how

[00:10:20] you put a different spin on that but also the kind of angle of bullying which you know is a massive

[00:10:26] subject in our country and it was utilizing that kind of sporting element of trying to tackle

[00:10:34] that you know you see it nowadays with the likes of the social media abuse that players get and

[00:10:40] the premise behind Cantona in this is that he kind of has a chat with the gentleman

[00:10:46] talks about the fact that the language is perhaps a bit colorful around families

[00:10:50] and in the resulting kind of aftermath Martin Edwards comes out and kind of lavishes praise on him

[00:10:56] the media kind of takes it to him and starts to big him up and next thing you know there's

[00:11:02] Eric Sear which is this workplace scheme for disillusionment to come and share the feelings with

[00:11:09] him the result in kind of the butterfly effect moment if you like is Cantona getting recognized

[00:11:14] for an MBE which is so totally bonkers that you just wouldn't kind of you wouldn't see that

[00:11:20] outcome but it's it was a different way I guess of positioning what is arguably you know one

[00:11:27] of still the most recognizable fan interactions and just putting a different spin and it was it

[00:11:33] was interesting actually because I was thinking about it again I think it was last season when

[00:11:37] Eric Dyer approached the fans in the stands and you still kind of see this you still see the

[00:11:44] fans interactions with players that have been as bad if not worse sometimes with you know with

[00:11:49] the amount of passion that footballers footballing fans have for the results so yeah it was written

[00:11:55] kind of to try and incorporate lots of those different elements yeah absolutely and I've got to

[00:11:59] Eric Cantona obviously doesn't have quite as long a ban and it is an inspirational figure for Manchester

[00:12:05] United a little bit sooner or I mean all of these chapters do occur in kind of separate universes

[00:12:10] so actually you know you mentioned that kind of butterfly effect I mean we'll come to England's

[00:12:15] alternative Italia 90 fate shortly it's fair to say that you know in 1996 when Southgate gets

[00:12:21] subbed England art two-time World Cup winners by then you know Ryan gigs infamously moves to

[00:12:26] Serie A in 1996 after Manchester United for the title he isn't referred to when he skies it in 1999

[00:12:33] the semi-final is there any part of your brain that was like working out all of this do you at

[00:12:39] any point kind of have to go actually what did happen did Eric Cantona get an MBE I can't remember

[00:12:45] I was definitely written from that perspective that they were all separate chapters I mean

[00:12:49] they're trying to combine them all into a kind of seamless timeline if you like would have been

[00:12:56] an absolute nightmare I think to try and do but I think with each of them I try and write them as

[00:13:01] a standalone chapter because as you touched on before that the way I've tried to structure

[00:13:06] the book is there's kind of the positioning of the game and why it's important and that kind of

[00:13:11] gives you all the nostalgic kind of callbacks that you recognize then there's the kind of

[00:13:16] butterfly effect moment of the what if and the different scenario that happens

[00:13:21] and then you kind of got the fun bit where you go right okay so what does this mean you know what

[00:13:25] does it mean for the game what does it mean for the players as well you touch there on the likes

[00:13:31] of gigs leaving United to go to Italy really kind of strong rumour when I was growing up

[00:13:36] that never materialized but there are elements of games that I've been able to reword where

[00:13:42] you know United don't have the success that they enjoy and perhaps that's the

[00:13:46] the butterfly effect that does mean that some of these players move to different clubs and everything

[00:13:50] so it was a real kind of challenge to keep it all together but definitely kind of sat well as

[00:13:55] individual chapters and not as part of one massively interconnected web would have probably

[00:14:01] sent you absolutely crazy yeah and I think that's that's sort of you know those moments

[00:14:07] that as football fans we all do the what ifs and moments hinging or be it a referee mistake

[00:14:13] or last-minute goal or a penalty miss and actually you know as as will come to kind of the the

[00:14:19] alternate realities that does I mean the second game for your desert island is a Premier League

[00:14:24] game that doesn't feature Manchester United there are quite a few famous slash infamous

[00:14:29] matches in the book what one have you gone for so for this one I've gone for the Gerard

[00:14:36] what if Gerard didn't slip and so this is of course the infamous Liverpool Chelsea game

[00:14:41] where Gerards took an unfortunate tumble and I think for me you know this is a game that

[00:14:49] it's one that I also remember watching live and you kind of you remember the emotions you feel

[00:14:55] as just as a just as an all-round football fan at that moment because it goes on to be such a

[00:15:00] big it goes on to be such a big event in terms of what then happened to the Liverpool's

[00:15:04] title challenge and I think the reason I took this chapter on is because there's always that

[00:15:09] mystery and intrigue around what would have happened if Gerard had won a title with Liverpool

[00:15:14] you know there's so many conversations about who the greatest midfielders are of our generation and

[00:15:19] I think that's always kind of held against him so in this kind of universe you know Gerard

[00:15:25] doesn't slip he actually makes a brilliant kind of goal line saving challenge but Liverpool carry

[00:15:31] on the dominance that they had I think when I was researching the book you know they were on kind of

[00:15:35] like a 14 game unbeaten streak you know this was a real informed Liverpool side and actually

[00:15:41] the Chelsea side that they played was pretty patched up to be honest they were missing quite a

[00:15:46] lot of first team regulars so from that perspective you kind of look back with even more mystery

[00:15:52] and intrigue really around how that Chelsea team wasn't put to the sword by Liverpool it was it

[00:15:58] was quite enjoyable kind of writing that from the perspective of being a fan of Gerard and you

[00:16:02] know acknowledging that he's probably one of the greatest players in my lifetime certainly

[00:16:06] and I think if any match proves that there's no bias involved writing an alternative

[00:16:12] history that means Liverpool win the league has definitely got to be one of them and actually

[00:16:16] in your book I believe it brings Sir Alex Ferguson back out of retirement so incestacy

[00:16:22] that Liverpool get their 19th title so who knows who knows if that would have been the

[00:16:27] if that would have been the moment that would have brought him back absolutely absolutely I

[00:16:31] think that's the fun with some of it as well you're able to kind of when you start to plot out

[00:16:35] the eventualities of what happens you can kind of link them back to things that have happened

[00:16:42] for the last few years so United notoriously seem to you know we just can't find the right

[00:16:47] replacement for Ferguson so the fact that you can bring him back after a season in retirement

[00:16:52] with the same aim of knocking Liverpool up again it's all that kind of stuff that adds to the intrigue

[00:16:57] I guess of writing these chapters yeah absolutely and I've got to just one chapter we don't have

[00:17:03] time to cover today but what if Vardy didn't have a party he's one of the one of the

[00:17:06] chapters which I think we could probably work out how that went as speaking as a Spurs fan it

[00:17:11] does mean that Spurs won the league so you know that one I particularly I particularly

[00:17:15] absorbed that one that was that was very good I mean I think the beauty of the book it's very

[00:17:20] similar we've kind of covered it when you get immersed in football manager and then you

[00:17:24] then you're kind of going who does that person actually play for do you know and there'll be

[00:17:28] people listen to this who've never played football manager got no idea what I'm on about

[00:17:32] and there'll be people who are 20 season veterans who can never quite work out if Hartley

[00:17:36] Paul have won the Champions League or not you know so when when you decided on a match like how

[00:17:41] easy or difficult was it to research I imagine a lot of YouTube a lot of googling like

[00:17:46] would there any matches in particular that was really difficult to get back in on on that depth

[00:17:50] and how much will you rely on your own memory yeah funnily enough then the match that you've

[00:17:55] mentioned actually the Leicester Salant and I'll cover that in a second most difficult one I

[00:17:59] found straight away was the England Germany or the West Germany game from 1990 purely because

[00:18:05] from my own perspective you know I was too young to remember the game but also I was too

[00:18:10] young to remember the era so for the last kind of 10 20 years you kind of know the the time

[00:18:16] that you're in and and you you know how the world works and you can kind of compare and

[00:18:21] bring different reference points in but going back to 1990 I had to kind of research a lot

[00:18:28] of different things the rules around the game the players even the kind of notoriety of the

[00:18:33] different clubs you know some of the clubs that are big now were not as big back then

[00:18:37] obviously and also some of the sources of information weren't as relevant back then

[00:18:42] the probably the best source actually was the was the fa's premier league site that was really

[00:18:48] helpful because within that you've kind of got all the historic premier league fixtures and

[00:18:53] rounds of games and the table and the Leicester Salant in game was another really

[00:18:57] difficult chapter because I really struggled to find the pivot on that moment of what

[00:19:02] was going to happen and I rewrote it several times and in that you'll know that spurs have got

[00:19:08] I think an eight-point gap to reclaim and the real trouble was was trying to find what's the event

[00:19:13] that makes them drop so many points and eventually I got to the point of actually if their goalkeeper

[00:19:19] gets sent off that's such a big position and then their reserve keepers are 41 year old

[00:19:24] veteran actually that that maybe makes sense for the next three or four games how they don't

[00:19:28] pull that together so yeah I mean I love doing the research you know it was a real kind of throwback

[00:19:33] into casting your mind back and remembering you know the the seasons that went by and

[00:19:40] some of the players from those generations as well so it was a lot of fun but it was there was all

[00:19:45] sorts of sources that were used I think in the book I just say thanks to the internet because

[00:19:50] how people did this before the internet I don't know no no exactly exactly and yeah you're

[00:19:55] right I mean that Lester that Lester team were just relentless and actually yeah as I've always

[00:20:00] said you know that actually it was fantastic to see Lester in the league it was such a fantastic

[00:20:03] thing it was just so annoying it was that season they chose to do it you know any other season

[00:20:08] have been supporting Lester all the way yeah so the third game for your desert island is an FA cup

[00:20:15] game and the alternate history you're going to change the timeline on which classic FA cup game

[00:20:21] have you gone for so it has to be what if gigs had skied it which was another chapter that I thoroughly

[00:20:26] enjoyed writing you know you talk about how there's no bias in the book and I think the great position

[00:20:32] is from a united fans perspective you can't change that history so you actually really enjoy

[00:20:36] playing around with the alternative set of events and this chapter is obviously written from

[00:20:42] the perspective of the united arsenal game in the FA cup replay where gigs kind of scores

[00:20:49] one of the if not greatest FA cup goals but it's kind of retold from the perspective of what wouldn't

[00:20:56] have happened or sorry what would have happened if you just skied it and the unfolding events

[00:21:00] because at that point in the season united really needed to kind of win every single game to

[00:21:05] keep that momentum going and I always felt like that game was a real kind of momentum shift

[00:21:10] for united and had they lost that game I think the whole season could have fallen apart

[00:21:14] but again it's kind of written from the perspective that it's the first time I think that I introduced

[00:21:18] the BBC live text commentary for the penalty shootout which I really enjoy I love watching

[00:21:23] penalty shootouts on BBC live text I just think it's great but again so many good players as well

[00:21:28] in that arsenal team I remember watching an Elker live when he played for Arsenal at Blackburn

[00:21:34] and thinking wow this is some player probably the quickest player I've ever seen I think

[00:21:39] yeah what a game that was as well I mean and again I mean even the reality of that game is you know

[00:21:46] the schmike will save in 90 minutes of the penalty and this would be a catalyst for the treble it

[00:21:54] goes a slightly different way in your books so people have to buy that to find out a little

[00:21:58] bit more about that I mean we're of a similar age and era I think and I think that you've

[00:22:04] already kind of referenced it that people do get upset about night knowledge in football

[00:22:08] for 1992 I always think it's kind of what's in your own living memory there is just one

[00:22:14] in the book from pre-1992 for those obvious reasons we've covered but it is quite a pivotal one

[00:22:20] had it gone slightly differently the fourth pick future choose is your pre-1992 game which

[00:22:25] timeline are you changing so we're changing the game that I've probably seen more replays of

[00:22:31] in in my lifetime which is the the West Germany versus England it's alia 90 semi final again I think

[00:22:39] I couldn't really kind of not have a look at that one I think just because it's in for me with

[00:22:45] not just the missed penalties but the gas going yellow card and again because it was kind of

[00:22:50] before my era one of the things I hadn't appreciated would would have been the rematch

[00:22:56] of England versus Argentina in the final with Maradona which kind of if you think about poetic

[00:23:01] justice would have been great following kind of Mexico 86 so yeah in this timeline you know

[00:23:07] gas going kind of makes the tackle and that the chapter this one is what if Gaza made the tackle

[00:23:13] but it just it also repositions gas goings impact I think you know every neutral football

[00:23:19] fan will always feel like there's a lost element of what could have been with gas going you

[00:23:24] know he was he was the first player that I remember people talking about in a way that was

[00:23:33] really kind of unique you know and you hear about kind of young players nowadays but

[00:23:39] I genuinely don't think I've come across too many other players who were mentioned in the same

[00:23:44] way gas going was you know this just remarkable ability to be so gifted and I think it could

[00:23:51] have transformed his career you know had had results gone differently in that fire in that

[00:23:56] semi-final I think we could have been sat here with a very different Paul gas going which

[00:24:01] in the book it kind of goes a bit of a bonkers way anyway but yeah I think with that game

[00:24:08] you know there's so many iconic moments anyway but bringing Steve Bull into it as well was

[00:24:13] very enjoyable again kind of research in that you you just forget about these kind of

[00:24:19] pre-1992 things that you know this was one of the first times I think that England that

[00:24:23] included a player from outside the top two divisions in a World Cup squad someone who

[00:24:28] was an absolute goal machine so the events of the book are perhaps not as unbelievable as you

[00:24:33] might think so yeah that one was was probably one of my favorites to write because I actually

[00:24:37] learned a lot about that era as well and the players involved yeah absolutely Steve Bull

[00:24:43] having a starring role in England's alternate alternate history at Italian 90 and yeah facing

[00:24:50] Argentina in the final and really yeah incredible and yeah who knows I think it's the ultimate

[00:24:56] question of course of Gaza there's that famous kind of lip reading of Sir Bobby Robson talking

[00:25:02] to Gaza saying you're still young you know you've this is this is just your first World

[00:25:07] Cup and of course as we know we never got to see Gaza on the on the World Cup stage again

[00:25:12] it's just kind of burnt into the kind of memories and psyche I think of an entire generation isn't

[00:25:17] it one of the other things that I hope people get from the book as well is these alternative

[00:25:22] histories are not as far-fetched as what people might think and I think it's sometimes really

[00:25:27] interesting when you compare what we have seen in our history you know Kanton our attacking

[00:25:31] a fan DiCaneo pushing over the the semi-final that we we just talked about actually some of

[00:25:37] these are they are deliberately written with an element of reality to it as well if that makes

[00:25:42] sense so yeah and as you say you know just that they are just nudges of history but here's the

[00:25:48] thing that just that nudge and the implications can be can be absolutely huge who knows what

[00:25:53] Paul Gasquin's life might have been like had he led England to World Cup glory in 1990 yeah

[00:25:59] it's uh it's one of those eternal questions so the fifth match we to choose is a European

[00:26:05] match you change the timeline on now you do feature quite a few kind of epic European Cup

[00:26:11] winning finals I think there's the Manchester United in 99 Liverpool in a five and then

[00:26:17] Chelsea versus Manchester United of course as well what what sort of talk talk me through

[00:26:24] a few of those and what's kind of your your pick um so yeah that again the the European

[00:26:29] Champions League stages has been again that there's so many classic games in in there for

[00:26:35] you know fans to remember that I mean the Liverpool five I probably would still regard

[00:26:40] as being the greatest gaming football I've ever seen even as a diehard united fan I think you

[00:26:46] have to acknowledge that that comeback against that Milan team as well you know when I was

[00:26:51] looking back and reading through this is I know the Madrid side was was viewed as a Galactico

[00:26:57] team but this this Milan side is not far off and it's still kind of you know it's still quite

[00:27:03] unbelievable to think that they came back the book however does a very different job in positioning

[00:27:07] the fact that Liverpool did get battered which again shows there's no genuine bias um again I

[00:27:13] think I enjoyed the Chelsea United 08 because it's you know it's very similar to the kind of

[00:27:19] Gerard Slit with John Terry you know it's it's one of those infamous flash points which you

[00:27:23] remember kind of so much associated with Terry and how much of a good player he was but for me the United

[00:27:29] 99 buying game is is everything you know it's it's the first game I remember my dad's

[00:27:36] breaking down in tears to at the full-time whistle watching it on a tiny little 15 inch monitor at

[00:27:41] home and just again back to the point about things being believable in reality you know two

[00:27:48] goals after the 120 minutes sorry after the 90 minutes unbelievable you know the the buying team

[00:27:55] were kind of convinced that they were there and it was just one of those things with United where

[00:28:00] we just always seem to score and I know it's referenced in the commentary but it's probably

[00:28:04] the greatest game that I remember watching with with my dad so rewriting that from the perspective

[00:28:09] of what would have happened if if Solskjaer didn't win it and it it's a very different twist I think to

[00:28:17] what people might imagine you know it kind of revolves around some of Roy Keane's attributes in

[00:28:23] in a different way to the football field and then also some of that you know there's quite a lot of

[00:28:28] German banter in the book because there's so many there's so many occasions where we've either

[00:28:32] played a German side or we've played them nationally I think there's always been that rivalry so

[00:28:37] and it was it was a lot of fun kind of rewriting and projecting the fact that you

[00:28:42] know Bayern were actually on their own treble run that season as well and so they would have ended up

[00:28:47] as as treble winners but there's quite a there's quite a big fallout from that game should we say

[00:28:52] to end the book on yeah yeah and again it's another one of those ones we've covered a few times

[00:28:57] and I had Clive Tildesley on in an earlier episode and of course I mean he quite quite modestly

[00:29:02] goes you know I got pretty lucky that night didn't I because obviously he has clived Tildesley's

[00:29:07] words and he uh that was his first season as ITV's league commentator as well of course

[00:29:12] obviously yeah he'd replaced he'd replaced Brian Moore obviously at that at that stage hadn't he so

[00:29:18] so yeah he kind of went through that entire stage and kind of made his career at ITV

[00:29:22] we mentioned the Chelsea had John Terry kept his foot in I think it does potentially mean a

[00:29:27] contract extension for Avram Grant so you know be careful what you wish for Chelsea's

[00:29:33] and so we're going to go on to international matches and obviously there is the title

[00:29:38] chapter that we'll cover in a second before we do that there are a few that you kind of cover

[00:29:42] what if Gary Mack had buried his penalty if Lampard's goal had been spotted over the line

[00:29:47] they're two two of the kind of alternative histories that you go along I'm fascinated with

[00:29:52] Gary Mack and had he had his penalty gone away and Scotland made the knockout knockout

[00:29:56] stages kind of what Scotland's Euro 96 might have looked like yeah very much Simon my partner

[00:30:02] is actually Glasgow region so I had to have an England-Scotland game in there and again

[00:30:07] I think that the enjoyable nature about that is that that was actually a group game that you look

[00:30:11] at and there's not a huge amount riding on that you know there were still other games for both sides

[00:30:16] to play but what I found really interesting was when I wrote that and the Scotland team kind of

[00:30:23] had their victory and there's loads of really cool parallels in that game you know there's

[00:30:28] two Blackburn players sorry there's four Blackburn players two on each side two

[00:30:33] are attackers two defenders and there's this moment where they all come together and it's

[00:30:36] it's like this kind of football symmetry that we all love but then as a result of the game as well

[00:30:41] you kind of then get to step through England's path in the in the Euros that year and actually

[00:30:48] it would have been an easier path to the final arguably because they wouldn't have played

[00:30:52] Germany in the semi-final um so you get to kind of again just just replay those games that

[00:30:58] you thought were so big at the time and put a different spin on it but I did I did like the

[00:31:04] the renaming of Scottish attractions after the players that was that was an enjoyable afternoon

[00:31:08] looking at Visit Scotland's top 10 website yeah some some different trip advisor entries on there

[00:31:14] in this alternative reality and even the Lampard goal in 2010 against Germany had that uncounted

[00:31:21] and again the temptation might have been that this would have been the moment for England

[00:31:24] to march on towards another World Cup victory and again you resist those temptations to kind of go

[00:31:29] that was actually a fairly dog-ballful England team quite frankly that just weren't gonna

[00:31:36] if they weren't going out there they were going out soon after yeah absolutely again I had a lot

[00:31:42] of fun with that chapter because we've come into a world where VAR is so maligned now

[00:31:48] um having grown up kind of watching rugby and cricket that have you know really embraced

[00:31:52] and executed technology in their sports really well it was kind of fun to you know make VAR

[00:31:58] the hero in that book but you're right I mean we would have got absolutely battered by Argentina

[00:32:02] had we actually beaten the Germans so yeah like you say be careful what you wish for because

[00:32:07] I think Messi would have been 23 in the next game and yeah we would have been we would have

[00:32:12] been crying into our pints in this country wouldn't we yeah yeah I don't think that I don't think

[00:32:16] that team would go in very much further even if the goal had us studed so the sixth and final

[00:32:21] match to select is an international matchy chain so we already know that England were world champions

[00:32:26] in 1999 off the back of Gaza's tackle this is a different timeline so we might as well find out

[00:32:31] what would have happened had Gareth Southgate been subbed well as we all know we would have gone

[00:32:36] on and beat the Germans so yeah the title chapter was really a kind of tribute to

[00:32:42] the first chapter that I came up with the book was originally going to be called

[00:32:46] footballs what ifs but I just I I I recognized that the idea just sparked with the Southgate

[00:32:51] chapter and I felt like I wanted to call that the book title instead but again this premise of looking

[00:32:58] at if we'd have if if Venables would have made the substitution so in this game he kind of reacts

[00:33:03] to the fact that England need a you know fresh pair of legs and he introduces Nick Barmbay and

[00:33:09] again when I was doing a lot of research to it there's some really nice linkages between

[00:33:14] Barmbay was given his debut at Spurs by Venables so there's this kind of link of the player and

[00:33:20] the coach being there and then also the fact that Barmbay I think had only scored his first

[00:33:25] couple of goals for England in a friendly in the run up to the tournament so he kind of got this

[00:33:29] this ability to score key goals really and the result of that is you know England's

[00:33:34] sneak an extra time winner I've completely forgotten as well actually that the tournament

[00:33:38] was we're still doing the golden goals back then so again kind of researching it that the

[00:33:43] game would have stopped you'll have to find out obviously what happens in the final I don't want

[00:33:48] to break that to English fans hearts on the on the podcast now but you know if you buy the book

[00:33:53] you'll find out what would have materialized had we overcome the Germans but yeah it was just

[00:33:59] that spark really of listening to a podcast about that particular game that just gave me the idea

[00:34:04] to go away and write it and you know for me and so many people as you said before with

[00:34:10] similar age you know the mid 90s the kind of the the tv coverage the Badeal and Skinner three lions

[00:34:17] it felt like for the first time football was very accessible to everybody as well I think the Premier

[00:34:23] League era had kind of brought in a new appeal to football fans and it was just a really great

[00:34:29] time to be around and yeah I very happy memories of watching Euro 96 you know the first kind

[00:34:35] of tournament that I remember being genuinely excited for because as I said earlier you know I was

[00:34:41] I was too young for italia 90 and of course we missed out on qualification for USA 94

[00:34:48] so having that kind of what 12 year wait for me to watch England in a major tournament was well

[00:34:53] worth it yeah incredible tournament incredible and on home soil as well just absolutely

[00:34:58] fantastic and we I mean we said like Ganser's alternative history had he had night he had

[00:35:04] gone differently what do you what would be your opinion on Gareth Southgate's I mean had he not

[00:35:09] had that moment that obviously imprinted on him imprinted on his life in such a way would we have

[00:35:15] had let's face it the most successful England manager we've had in in a generation and and

[00:35:22] who knows what the summer might hold but do you think that without that moment Gareth Southgate

[00:35:27] goes on to become such a successful in inverted commas I think we've probably got to say manager

[00:35:32] I think it's a really interesting question I think this is one of the things I love

[00:35:36] kind of challenging myself and hopefully challenging readers to think about in the book

[00:35:40] is this psyche about you know I think we've all come to embrace failure a lot better now that

[00:35:46] it actually makes us better people we can learn from it and I've no doubt that Southgate is

[00:35:53] a fantastic man manager having gone through that experience you know you look at his treatment

[00:35:57] of the young players particularly after the the euros and you look at someone like Baka Yosaka who

[00:36:03] you know was kind of vilified for his penalty miss and everything but has actually gone from

[00:36:07] strength to strength with Arsenal and is probably one of our best future talents as an England player

[00:36:13] I think it's it's an interesting one to think about because I the one thing I would say about

[00:36:18] Southgate is I don't think he I don't think as a player he actually suffered you know he

[00:36:24] seemed to kind of get on with his career and I remember him going into management and he was

[00:36:28] I think he was fairly successful at Middlesbrough and if I compare that perhaps to and I know it's

[00:36:34] kind of different circumstances but you know the abuse that that kind of Beckham received for

[00:36:40] his red card at World Cup 98 you know there was definitely a different take on say Beckham's

[00:36:46] misfortune versus Southgate's misfortune but yeah you know I hope that it's made

[00:36:51] Southgate a better coach I think we've got in my opinion one of the best young squads that we've

[00:36:57] ever had and I think it's it's ultimately it's all about results isn't it and there's a there's

[00:37:03] a chapter in there between England and Greece who obviously famously went and won the euros and

[00:37:09] I think that's always the the challenge for England isn't it that you know we've got so

[00:37:13] many generations of talent that we've seen but ultimately you've got you've got to win something

[00:37:19] for it to mean anything or could be ultimate redemption if he does eventually become the

[00:37:23] first England manager to lift a trade fee this summer I hope so yeah especially in Germany

[00:37:28] as well right you know again bit of yeah yeah worth it's significance yeah yeah that would yeah

[00:37:33] not that what what a full circle moment that would be actually yeah yeah yeah almost three

[00:37:38] decades later yeah so coming back into actual reality for a moment we do have one of the

[00:37:45] ridiculous questions we asked for you a fantasy deserted island is which current or former Premier

[00:37:50] League player would you choose to attempt to rescue mission now the caveat with this question

[00:37:57] is always the same if this player fails to rescue you you will have to see out your days on the

[00:38:03] island with them so with all of that in mind which Premier League player past or present would

[00:38:08] you go for so I did put quite a lot of thought into this and the first name that popped into my

[00:38:14] head was then just justified with a load of reasons why so it has to be Cantona it has to

[00:38:20] be Cantona one is because I think you would because he is such a character I think you'd never get

[00:38:26] bored secondly had a career in beach football so I'm assuming that he'll kind of fashion something

[00:38:31] to keep you occupied with and maybe have some kind of coconut island football competition

[00:38:36] I just think you know if there's anyone that's going to be kind of cool to hang out

[00:38:39] with until you rescue it's it's got to be Eric yeah yeah a good choice I don't think you're

[00:38:44] the first person to take him to the island with you I would only say the caveat have you

[00:38:48] seen his recent singing career he's been on the Michael McIntyre show wow no I haven't actually

[00:38:54] I haven't okay I mean what I'll say is if we'll have you back on a future episode after you've

[00:39:00] watched that I mean what I'd say is if you walked into a bar and someone was doing that in the

[00:39:04] corner you'd go to the nearest weather spoons however Eric Eric can do just about anything

[00:39:09] I'm not 100% certain about his new album but he is now launching a musical career so

[00:39:16] just bear that in mind talented man talented man and I usually ask my guests as well to choose a

[00:39:23] match that they could take with them to the island in a kind of room 101 style to delete it from

[00:39:27] history they're yours again we're going through an alternate history from one of your chapters

[00:39:33] and your selections really interesting because it would have actually cost Manchester United if

[00:39:38] this match had gone the way so what what is the alternative history chapter that you would

[00:39:43] perhaps change and therefore I guess I by definition make reality so it's the it's the third chapter

[00:39:50] in the book which is what if United went to Middlesbrough and got nothing which is it's

[00:39:55] really kind of built on the fact that Keegan's rant actually works I mean I love that chapter

[00:40:03] again writing that from the point of view of safety of kind of knowing that everything did

[00:40:07] turn out the way it did be united but I think there's just a fascination really we've had that chapter

[00:40:15] gone the way it went and Keegan got to Ferguson there would have been so many things to think

[00:40:19] about you know would Newcastle have embarked on a period of dominance you know would they have

[00:40:25] attracted some big names to come and play there you've kind of got a sense of that now with

[00:40:30] the the money that they've got that they can draw big big players to that city because

[00:40:34] they don't really have a lot of competition you know they kind of stand alone and they've got a

[00:40:39] such an amazing fan base and I think as well with Newcastle there's always been that kind of

[00:40:45] favourite second team for people you know you look back at the games with Newcastle

[00:40:50] with Liverpool rather in the 90s the four three encounters and the way they've always

[00:40:54] played football has been almost the way you want football to be played you know that

[00:40:58] kind of gung-ho entertaining way of playing and I think the other really interesting point

[00:41:04] of view for me was you know Ferguson for us is God and one of the great things about Ferguson

[00:41:13] that everybody kind of gets was his ability to win the mind games whether it was with Keegan,

[00:41:20] Banger famously Rafa when he kind of went on his own run you know that kind of that psychological

[00:41:27] hold that that Ferguson seemed to have it would have been really interesting if

[00:41:31] Keegan had have broken and the Rant had done its job and would United have been so dominant for the

[00:41:37] next 25 years I think that would have been the real kind of interesting dynamic with that

[00:41:42] so yeah that's the chapter I'm going to leave people with and yeah you know one for the Newcastle

[00:41:48] fans to save it for sure. Yeah and as you say most neutral probably that season it does also

[00:41:54] lead to Ronaldo on I joining James's Park a tantalising prospect that football missed out

[00:42:00] on of him lining up alongside Darren Peacock that would have been absolutely marvellous.

[00:42:06] So while we've got you James what we like to do also on this show is we like to put a player in the

[00:42:12] Premier League of Nations Hall of Fame what we're kind of working our way through is every

[00:42:17] nation on earth that has been represented in the Premier League who is the greatest and greatest

[00:42:24] is a subjective word you can come up with your own reasons we'll put it out to a vote

[00:42:30] today it's the greatest Chilean Premier League player now at the time of recording there have been

[00:42:36] 16 Chilean players to appear in the Premier League I've shortlisted them down to four

[00:42:41] a quick mention for a few players that haven't made the list so Javier Margas the former West

[00:42:46] Hand man who once bought the armored car of former dictator Augusto Pinochet he doesn't make

[00:42:52] the shortlist unfortunately and also Ben Brereton Diaz who's really going to have to make

[00:42:57] quite the impact for Sheffield United in the final weeks of 23-24 to be troubling these four but

[00:43:03] currently it's a goalkeeper a fallback a combative midfielder and a forward all of whom are centurions

[00:43:09] for their national side they've in fact got 573 caps between them at the time of recording which

[00:43:16] is quite incredible so let's start at the back let's work away through the team and then you

[00:43:20] can tell me who you think the greatest Premier League Chilean is so is it Claudio Bravo third

[00:43:25] on the all-time Chilean caps list he spent four seasons at the Etihad where he was reunited with

[00:43:30] former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola he made 29 Premier League appearances but endured a nightmare

[00:43:36] start in a Manchester derby on his debut and then also conceded for on his return to the new camp

[00:43:41] in the Champions League he quietly made fewer and fewer appearances as time went on before returning

[00:43:46] to Spain where he's still with Real Betis on the books as a 40 year old or is it Jean

[00:43:53] Bosse Jor the former Birmingham and Wiggeman who sits seventh on Chile's all-time caps list making

[00:43:58] 67 appearances in the Premier League he was at Wigan in 2012-13 for their relegation in FACUP

[00:44:04] triumph but he did miss the final due to a hamstring injury or is it Gary Medell the one

[00:44:10] season wonder at Cardiff City who is his nation's captain an all-time appearance maker with 161

[00:44:17] caps to date at the age of 36 there's not a lot more to say about him based on what I could find

[00:44:22] online except that Roberto Mancini wanted to describe him as a warrior and his nickname is Pitbull

[00:44:28] presumably freestyle a player not his love of the dodgy American rapper or is it Alexis Sanchez

[00:44:35] who completes this quartet being his nation's all-time top scorer with 51 goals in 160

[00:44:43] caps he's also got 63 goals in 154 Premier League appearances not too shabby at all it's fair to

[00:44:49] say his best days did come at Arsenal though scoring the vast amount at the Emirates before a

[00:44:53] controversial move to Old Trafford where mediocrity reigned before spells at Marseille and now

[00:44:58] into Milan where he remains so they I think the four greatest Chilean Premier League players

[00:45:05] who are you putting in the Hall of Fame is it Bravo, Bosse Jor, Medell or Sanchez.

[00:45:11] Okay so I did some research before this question because I thought it was a great question by the

[00:45:16] way slightly gutted I can't choose Ben Beret and Diaz because one of my best pals is a Blackburn fan

[00:45:22] and that would have made quite easy to do that Bravo yeah I can I've read up on him basically

[00:45:27] a more modern day equivalent of Masimo Taiibis a bit of a soft spot but not making the cut

[00:45:32] um I can't choose Alexis Sanchez I'm sorry as you say he's a disgrace to the number

[00:45:37] seven shirt for United you know needs to be expanded from all our record books so it's a

[00:45:43] toss-up between John Bosse Jor, Jean Bosse Jor and Gary Medell um I went for Gary Medell because one

[00:45:50] of the things I did find out about him off his Wikipedia profile which is clearly true

[00:45:55] as that he was once tasered by police at the under 20 semifinal against Argentina in 2007

[00:46:01] so I just think that's genius but I also love a one season wonder you know there's been

[00:46:05] so many one season wonders in the Premier League there who doesn't love a one season wonder

[00:46:10] absolutely I I mean I completely miss that he got tasered at a match I mean if that's not

[00:46:16] and still called pitbull so like unless it was the dangerous dogs department then that's

[00:46:21] that's quite incredible Gary Medell goes into the Premier League of Nations Hall of Fame

[00:46:27] for James I will put this out on twitter slash x for a vote after this episode you can go

[00:46:33] and have your say if you agree or disagree I mean I think it was always going to be fair that

[00:46:39] a Manchester United fan was never going to put Alex Alexis Sanchez anywhere of no apart from

[00:46:44] in the bin so it's a go Gary Medell Gary Medell gets the nod on this show and finally before we

[00:46:51] let you go James you're going to get a football to take with you to your desert island you've

[00:46:55] got potentially all time to recreate one famous iconic Premier League goal or maybe

[00:47:02] a non-iconic one where you go for what you like what what goal would you be recreating on your island

[00:47:08] I think it has to be the goal that millions of kids attempted after they watched it for the first

[00:47:13] time but it's it's the Beckham halfway line lob against Wimbledon just still one of the best

[00:47:20] goals I think I've ever seen just yeah the kind of both hands in the air celebration afterwards

[00:47:26] Neil Sullivan falling into the net it's just beautiful it's an incredible goal and

[00:47:31] I've done a few kind of spurs charity events where Neil Sullivan who was a decent keeper for Spurs

[00:47:36] a few years later and a lovely lovely guy my 14 14 year old son at the time stepped up at half

[00:47:45] time to take a charity penalty with him and I felt so guilty because I think I've got in his head

[00:47:49] I was like look just go one penalty you've got something in common with David Beckham

[00:47:53] and my lad who can pick pick the top corner out however he likes put it wide and you just

[00:47:58] turn around and walk away and I was like I shouldn't have brought up David Beckham

[00:48:03] in his company because very infamously you know that's that he's looking stricken as he texts the

[00:48:09] ball as it sails over his head incredible have you seen the Beckham documentary by the way

[00:48:13] if you watch the Beckham kind of the Netflix stuff I have I have yeah I think that's why

[00:48:19] I've mentioned kind of what I said before about the kind of reaction after the the red card

[00:48:24] and the parallels between that and Southgate I think it's quite shocking really I think it's

[00:48:29] very easy to forget that footballers are people and I know people kind of get lost in the amount

[00:48:34] of money that they earn which is you know clearly a separate issue but yeah I just think you kind

[00:48:40] of you come away with just more of a newfound respect for him really don't you know the

[00:48:44] the kind of the transformation I think he's still mad to think that he was captain in the side

[00:48:50] like a couple of years later and just the way he bounced back from that and I think the way he's

[00:48:55] kind of universally received by fans all over the place I think is just a measure of you know how

[00:49:02] you can really deal with some amount of shit to be honest yeah I loved it absolutely loved watching

[00:49:07] it such a nostalgia blast again especially from his time at United so yeah yeah there is one scene

[00:49:13] that stands out for me though where he's kind of in his little summer house thing and he says

[00:49:17] can spend all day here on the hot plate while he's cooking a single mushroom and put in put a

[00:49:22] little bit of salt on it and it still bothers me now I still can't work out why he's eating a

[00:49:26] single mushroom and then just like that maybe maybe having half a billion in the bank in all

[00:49:31] it's made up to be if that's what he spends his day. I love the fact as well that the other

[00:49:36] big takeaway from that documentary is the meme between him and his wife where it's like

[00:49:42] how did you really get to school? Tell the truth and like just people have their own spin on that

[00:49:47] now so that's the culture that we're in now isn't it you know don't worry about the

[00:49:51] overcoming adversity if there's a meme to be had let's get a meme out of it. 100% and also

[00:49:58] those scenes of like as anyone will know in any relationship it's a bit of give and take but

[00:50:03] he seems to have a bloody minded desire to go wherever he's wanting to be signed and actually

[00:50:10] you know Victoria's career maybe takes a little bit of a backseat but at the same time he's

[00:50:15] being signed by Real Madrid and she's doing duets with Dane Bowers so in fairness I think we can

[00:50:20] probably work out where that was going to go. James it's been a pleasure having you on the

[00:50:25] show I'm going to hold your book up again what if Southgate's gone so tell people

[00:50:29] where they can get hold of it and just anything else they need to know. Yeah so

[00:50:33] they can get hold of it from Amazon yeah I would just say if people like switching off

[00:50:39] with a bit of nostalgia recalling you know football games there's 21 chapters in there I've kind of

[00:50:44] done it as a bit of a matchday squad type approach but if people love you know not taking life too

[00:50:49] seriously there's a lot of hopefully kind of comedic twists and takes on people you know

[00:50:55] have a bit of fun with different players and managers personalities and things that people

[00:51:00] would associate with them so yeah you know go enjoy the go buy the book give it a review

[00:51:05] you know let me know if you enjoy it or not you know it's been an absolute pleasure coming and

[00:51:10] chatting to you Carl you know I think the other thing that I would hopefully encourage people

[00:51:15] to take away from this is you know if I can write a book anybody can write it's a really

[00:51:20] great way to kind of invest energy and time and just give yourself something to you know get

[00:51:26] you through sometimes some of those difficult patches that we all have in life so yeah it's

[00:51:31] been great coming to chat to you about it in fact thank you Carl you're very welcome and I

[00:51:35] would reiterate everything about that I mean it's a lot of fun and it's also the kind of thing where

[00:51:40] it would be a nice holiday read but also it's the kind of thing you could probably pick or

[00:51:44] read a chapter of if you're the kind of person that just can't carve out time to read or just

[00:51:48] doesn't read very much it actually is a really nice book as well to kind of read in bite-sized

[00:51:55] chunks you know with that's you know they're all standalone chapters they're all effectively

[00:51:59] it's effectively 21 short stories of alternative realities of things that you will know about if

[00:52:05] I mean quite frankly if you listen to this podcast then it's going to be up your street that's the

[00:52:08] bottom line what I'm trying to say so yeah if you're listening to this and you've enjoyed

[00:52:12] this conversation the book is definitely for you I will have the link in all the descriptions on

[00:52:16] whatever platform you're either listening or watching this on and and yeah support James's book

[00:52:21] James it's been a pleasure having you on the show I hope to see you on the comedy circuit

[00:52:24] soon you've recently fairly recently I think started a stand-up comedy tell us a bit about

[00:52:28] that yes I have thanks Carl so I started it a year ago actually it's just been my year anniversary

[00:52:34] did it is a bit of a kind of throw away bucket list action really I lost my dad's about six

[00:52:39] months before COVID which was another kind of inspiration to write something during COVID but

[00:52:44] I set myself a list of things to do and doing stand-up was one of them I got a dog so that

[00:52:49] provided me with a lot of funny material he's the basis for my act and just doing stand-up

[00:52:56] you know I met a couple of people who kind of threw my name into the hat for other gigs and

[00:53:01] it's just gone on from there really I've I've gigged kind of up and down Yorkshire and met

[00:53:06] some great people like Andy that we mentioned before and it's a really lovely circuit you know

[00:53:10] the the chance to go out and kind of make people laugh again I feel it's a real privilege

[00:53:15] because you just you don't know what people are going through and and I've always liked

[00:53:19] stand-up comedy I've always liked that kind of ability to kind of leave your troubles at the

[00:53:24] door and come and just have a good laugh and you do meet some really amazing people who

[00:53:30] you know are super super talented so yeah it's been a year I've you know I've been very very lucky

[00:53:36] I've gigged with a few pros I've gigged on the same bill as a couple of Britons got talent winners

[00:53:41] and and it's just been a such a fun ride I'm just kind of here to see what happens you

[00:53:46] know I've got no no big aspirations of live at the Apollo or kind of sell out arenas for me

[00:53:52] it is just a great place to meet people and hopefully at the end of the day make a few people

[00:53:57] laugh when you go up and give them your you set absolutely yeah it's an addictive thing when

[00:54:01] you when you get into it so yeah along with that continue right in the book starting stand-up

[00:54:05] getting a dog what inspirational live things for your bucket list if anyone's listened to

[00:54:09] this thinking they need to take a few things off their bucket list then then then then

[00:54:13] you I'm sure you've been inspiration James pleasure talking to you mate best to look

[00:54:17] with the book and thank you we'll have you back on this show again in the future lovely thank you

[00:54:26] so that was James Green I really enjoyed that chat I really enjoyed his book as well I will put a

[00:54:32] link to that in the description if you want to purchase a copy from Amazon and maybe leave him

[00:54:38] a review mention that you heard about him on this show while we're talking about reviews

[00:54:43] and things like that please do leave this show a review I would really appreciate it helps lift the

[00:54:49] show up into the charts we do keep lifting and breaking into the UK charts but then dipping back

[00:54:55] out again so each time you leave a review each time you share it you are helping me find new

[00:55:02] listeners so I really really appreciate that please do leave a review wherever you get your

[00:55:06] podcasts and subscribe like leave a comment on the youtube channel as well perhaps with your

[00:55:12] alternative histories or matches that you'd like to see that would be much appreciated as I mentioned

[00:55:19] at the start of the show I've got lots of great guests coming up in the weeks ahead a few great

[00:55:24] shows already in the can a couple I'm trying to get sorted I have been on holiday recently and

[00:55:31] have been slipping into DMs of several high profile ex Premier League footballers I will see

[00:55:37] what comes back from there it's not every day you buy the pool dropping an email to me careful

[00:55:43] sell not her back yet though me Cal so if you watch your mate love to have you on and there are

[00:55:49] lots of shows as well in the archive if you are new here Clive Tildesley Ashley Ward Henry

[00:55:55] Winter Jules Warren Josh Pugh I could go on naming fantastic names that we've had on the show

[00:56:00] so far so please if you are new to the show dip back in have a look in the archive I'm sure

[00:56:06] you'll find lots of fantastic episodes that arrive up your street as mentioned with James on this show

[00:56:13] we did go to pick the top Chilean Premier League player Bravo boasts your Medell or Sanchez who is

[00:56:22] your greatest Chilean Premier League player well the poll will go out on x right now so at WFBA pod

[00:56:32] just search when football began again or WFBA pod to pick your favorite Chilean player from the

[00:56:39] Premier League era I will be interested to see how that goes obviously James made his opinion

[00:56:45] quite clear but that's it for this week and next week show not quite sure which one I'll

[00:56:52] be releasing next week so you will just have to tune in and find out who is on next week's show

[00:56:57] I've got some great episodes coming up I really really appreciate you coming back each week and

[00:57:02] listening if you are one of the hardcore group of listeners who have been listening since day one

[00:57:08] I really appreciate you thank you so much please do continue to share it with people who

[00:57:14] might not know about the show I would love to gather some more listeners and some more viewers

[00:57:20] for the show but in the meantime I'll see you back here next week thank you for watching

[00:57:25] thank you for listening see you then